Thursday, February 13, 2014

"Sharp Objects" By: Gillian Flynn Review



Sharp Objects 
By: Gillian Flynn

Synopsis

WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heartWords are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.
NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.

HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.
My Thoughts
      Camille has returned to her small Missouri town to cover the biggest story in Wind Gap’s history, the murder of a pre-teen girl and the disappearance of another. Returning to her town isn’t as easy as it seems, as everyone she encounters seems to have secrets. Even Camille herself wears her own painful history on her skin, scared of revealing even the smallest parts of herself to the outside world. Faced with her painful past, uncovering secrets in her own family, and finding the killer of these two young girls proves to be an almost insurmountable task.
      Wow. That’s what I have to say. Having finished the book just moments ago, I’m still a little lightheaded by just the amount of stuff going on in this book. My mind is mush.
     As with Gone Girl, I didn’t care for any of the characters but the story absolutely had to be read. Delightfully smart, no one is safe from the secrets in this small Missouri town. I thought I had the mystery figured out early but by the end, I knew I had nothing at all figured out. Everyone, from the scummy Kansas City homicide detective to Camille’s own mom are hiding something and the finale is shocking and heart breaking in its honesty. Absolutely gutwrenching in parts, Flynn proves she is a master of storytelling in Sharp Objects.


Book Details 
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books 
# of Pages: 272 
ISBN: 9780307341549 
Date of Publication: September 26, 2006 
Source: Library Checkout 


Challenges 

1 comment:

  1. I found Gone Girl riveting! I haven't read anything else by this author, but after reading this review I will have to check this one out. Her storytelling really draws me in! Thanks for sharing and for the review. :)
    ~Jess

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